Snakes in the grass

Last week, I commented that rattlesnakes seem to be more common this year, and this week certainly confirmed that for me.

I ran up North Canyon four times this week. The first mile of North Canyon is a rough dirt road before the actual trail starts. On Monday, I was just running up the road when I heard a rattle. There was a rattlesnake like two feet away from me! I don't know how I didn't see it, since it was out in the open. I was a little freaked out that I was so close to it without seeing it. As much as I dislike these rattlesnakes, I do appreciate that they rattle first, because that benefits both of us. Then I met a hiker who said he had seen a three-foot snake up later on the trail, but I didn't see any other snakes that day.

On Tuesday, I was running down the road portion when I noticed a rattlesnake about ten feet in front of me. So I stopped and just watched it. It was a little interesting to see it flicking its tongue and slowly moving. But it was in the exact middle of the road, so I didn't feel like I could safely walk on either side of it. It was biding its time, so I figured I'd have to wait a while. But then I heard a car coming up the road. That will save me, I thought, because it will scare the snake off the road.

 Well, as the white Jeep came up, the rattlesnake did not get off the road in time, and the Jeep ran over it! As the tires reached the snake, it writhed around. Once the Jeep drove off, the snake appeared no worse for the incident and slithered off onto the side of the road, and I was able to safely walk past.

The internet tells me that often snakes will appear to be fine after being run over, but in fact their vertebrae can be separated and they die later. And I found myself feeling sad about this snake. Should I have tried to stop the Jeep from running it over? In my defense, I thought the snake would get out of the way. And I don't know if I would have been able to safely stop the incident, but I still feel guilty because part of me was happy to have it be run over. I don't like rattlesnakes, but I keep feeling sad about this one.

I think all these rattlesnake encounters has made me less afraid of them, but I don't know if that's a good thing. 

Sometimes I don't realize how dirty I can get while trail running.

Wednesday was overcast, and those are great days for running. Not only is it cooler, the wildflowers seem to glow!

I ran 8.75 miles instead of the usual 7. On my way down, there was a snake sitting on the trail. I'm pretty sure it was not a rattlesnake (no rattle and a different pattern), but I still didn't want to disturb it.

But it was just sitting there, and I needed to get past. I even wondered if it was still alive. So I decided I would throw a rock near it to see if it would react. But as soon as I crouched down to pick up a rock, it slithered off, and I was able to safely pass.

But then on Thursday I didn't see any snakes.

Friday, of course, was Pioneer Day. I see a lot of misinformation out there about Pioneer Day's history or about what it represents. It amazes me that I think I have become the world's expert on the holiday! I'm eager to get my stuff published. If it weren't for the pandemic, I might have already had my article submitted.

On Pioneer Day, my dad wanted me to help him put up moulding in my sister's basement. That took a few hours. I'm really not handy at stuff like that, so it's good for me to learn, even if I'm not learning very much. My dad has lots of fancy tools that make it easy.

We had some old Lion House mixes that we've gotten for Christmas over the years, so while my dad and I were working on the house, my mom made raspberry muffins and Lion House rolls for Pioneer Day. Pro tip: Lion House roll mix is not a good Christmas present, because it's time consuming.

I made zucchini soup, which was blander than I remember it being. I turned on my Pioneer Day playlist and had a generally boring afternoon. I went to RubySnap and got their seasonal cookies.

One of the few things that wasn't cancelled was Bountiful's Handcart Days fireworks, so we went to my sister's house to watch them. We had a decent view.

Now, in less than a month, I will be back in school. Eek! I've been having dreams about it. The other night I dreamed I had to go back to kindergarten, and I couldn't help but feel like I was taking a step back in life. We had to sign in when we got to school every day, and I was worried about crayon being less legible than pencil. Then last night, I dreamed I was starting grad school, and as I was walking around campus, I thought, "Oh no! I forgot to shave my beard!" And then I remembered it was the wrong school. One of my classes was a geology class, and I calculated one of the answers on an assignment as forty-two cubic inches, but I wasn't sure I was doing it right.